


To Warm Her Heart

by orphan_account



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Vivienne Positivity Month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-22
Updated: 2015-07-22
Packaged: 2018-04-10 16:44:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4399577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After finding a group of orphaned apostate children, Vivienne continues to surprise the Inquisitor.</p><p>Written for Vivienne Positivity Month on tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Warm Her Heart

The Inquisitor wipes the sweat of her brow with the back of her hand. Her sword very nearly falls right out of her sweaty palm, and she puts it away before she could cause any further damage. 

“Everyone all right?” 

A chorus of “yes” floats back up to her, and she lets out a relieved breath. “Let’s see if there’s anything for the refugees in here. Blankets, food -- “ she looked down at the apostates at her feet and sighed, adding quietly, “they won’t be needing it anymore anyway.” 

She reaches down, as if to go through their pockets, then straightens. She’s better than rifling through a corpse for a bit of coin, especially when these particular people had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

She hates killing apostates. She hates killing -- period. But somethings just need to be done. 

“Cassandra, Dorian -- if you two could start looking around here, that’d be great. I’ll take Vivienne and see what we can find farther back.” 

The Inquisitor motions the other woman forward as they head towards the back of the cave. There’s not a lot of light in here, but if she squints, she can see a few tents. Perhaps there’s some supplies in them. 

Something scatters across the floor. Her sword is out in an instant as her head whips around, searching for the threat.

And there, huddling against the far wall, are a group of shaking, terrified children. 

“ _Shit --_  “ the Inquisitor runs a hand through her hair in utter dismay. “They’re a bunch of  _kids_!”

Vivienne tsked. “Not in front of the children, dear.” 

The Inquisitor takes a step back. “What the hell are we supposed to do?” 

“Please do try to watch your language,” the other woman replies icily, then motions to the tents with a nod. “ _I_ will deal with the children.” 

The Inquisitor’s eyes widen as she puts her sword back into its sheath. “Don’t -- don’t _kill_ them.” 

Vivienne looks horrified at the idea. The Inquisitor bites her lip, regretting saying it almost immediately.  “My dear, what do you think of me? They’re just _children_.” 

“Right -- “ the tips of her ears turn bright red. “I’ll just be over here, then. Getting -- supplies.” 

Vivienne gives her a regal nod, a hint of steel still in her eyes, then turns to the children when the Inquisitor is out of earshot. 

The oldest stands tall, with their arms wrapped around the two little ones, as if to protect them. Vivienne purses her lips. Despite the shaking of their arms, they stare back up at her with confidence. She respects that in someone so young. 

There’s a few beats of silence, with both parties examining each other warily. Finally, the oldest child speaks up, albeit nervously.

“You’re not goin’ t’ -- hurt us, are you, miss?” 

“Of course not,” Vivienne says briskly. 

“But your friend had her sword -- “ 

“I do apologize for her. She is a bit. . . _flighty_.”

While the oldest girl still has her arms wrapped around the other two, her grip lessens slightly with each of Vivienne’s words. 

“How old are you, darlings?” Vivienne narrows her eyes to see in the dim lighting. “Do come forward. I can barely see you.” 

The ragtag group of children share wary looks, and the girl shuffles forward to introduce them. “My name is Maida, miss. I’m ten. This is my sister, Priscila. She’s only six. And my friend Cooper. He’s nine, but he don’t talk much. He lives next to us but -- but -- “ Her lip wobbles, and she bows her head. 

Vivienne feels a pang of sympathy as she interjects smoothly. “There’s no use talking about the past, my dears. I am Madame Vivienne. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She pauses, then adds, “Are you apostates like the rest of them?”

They nod, and Maida speaks again. “Me an’ Cooper have magic, an’ Priscila an’ my parents had magic, so we think she’ll be able to use it too. Miss.” 

Vivienne motions for the children to come forward again. “Then you’ll be coming with me.” 

This time, Priscila pipes up. “No offense, miss, but we’ve been livin’ here _forever_!” 

“I live somewhere a little more. . .civilized. You can’t just live in a cave all your lives, now can you?” Vivienne replies in a voice that leaves no room for argument. 

“But we’ve always lived here!” 

Vivienne frowns, then turns slowly towards the front of the cave. “Well, I’ll be off, then.” 

Maida steps forward, mouth hanging open. “You’re _goin’_?” 

“Of course. If you insist, then you may live in this cave. But I have a castle to go back to.” 

Looking back at the wide eyes of the children, Vivienne allows herself a smile before continuing, “It’s very warm, too. Though I suppose you could use blankets here. And the view is just _astonishing_. Right in the middle of the Frostback Mountains.” 

“Ma always said she’d like t’ see the Frostbacks,” Priscila says in a tiny voice. 

“Madame Vivienne, do you think -- “ Maida swallows. “I’d rather come t’ the castle. If that’s okay, ma’am.” 

“If it wasn’t okay, I wouldn’t have offered,” Vivienne replies, turning back to the children. “Come along now, dears. If we want to get back to camp before it gets dark, we must hurry.” 

The children, though still holding on to each other, allow Vivienne to usher them through the cave. She ignores the wide eyed look of the Inquisitor as she passes, instead saying, “Are you quite done? The children and I are going back to camp.” 

Arms bundled up with blankets, the Inquisitor gives the children a wary look. “Where are they going to go? Three mage kids without training? That’s a recipe for  _disaster_.” 

“Nonsense. They will be staying with me, of course. I will teach them to the best of my abilities.” After all, she had been elected First Enchanter of Montsimmard before the war. She is more than qualified to train them. 

“As long as you teach them,” the Inquisitor replies, though still not one hundred percent for this idea. “I’m sure there’s room for them in Skyhold.” 

“Exactly what I thought, my dear.” 

As they approach the front of the cave, Vivienne gets a better look at the children. They, in turn, can finally see what she looks like. 

“Madame Vivienne!” Maida exclaims. Vivienne turns towards her, amused. “Your clothes are so pretty! Ma said we didn’t have enough money for clothes so -- “ 

Priscila interrupts her. “Are there pretty clothes in your castle, Madame Vivienne?” 

Over the children’s heads, the Inquisitor mouths, “ _Your castle?_ ” Vivienne just smiles, and turns back to them. 

“We can’t have you dressed in rags, now can we? It is unfit for a castle.” 

She tilts her head thoughtfully. With their olive skin and dark hair, Vivienne could see both girls draped in dark purples and reds. And with skin to match her own, Cooper would look magnificent in a navy blue.  “A good bath will do you wonders, children. I will send a scout ahead to Skyhold to prepare them.” 

As she leads them out the front of the cave, the rest of the party stands in shock behind her.

“Was that -- _Vivienne_?” Dorian splutters. “Our Vivienne? Cold-hearted, _ice queen_ Vivienne?” 

Cassandra muses, “Seems she has had us all fooled.” 

Setting her load of blankets on the ground, the Inquisitor smiles. “I think being with Vivienne will do them a lot of good. Besides,” she adds, “Skyhold is _a lot_ better than living in a cave. Those kids’ll be just fine.” 

“To think that it only took a group of kids -- kids -- to warm her heart. Vivienne, the ice queen.”

“Exactly. She’ll take good care of them. I know she will.”

And the Inquisitor, of course, couldn’t be more right.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! hope everyone enjoyed!


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